When he was still a young boxer, Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor) mortally injured one of his opponents. He turned his back on boxing and trained to become a Catholic priest. After being involved in a fight with a deacon, Rev. Jud was reassigned to be the assistant pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude in Chimney Rock, New York. The parish priest there was the charismatic but controversial Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin).
Wicks had a loyal group of supporters around him led by his loyal assistant Martha (Glenn Close), groundskeeper Samson (Thomas Haden Church), doctor Nat (Jeremy Renner), lawyer Vera (Kerry Washington) and her adopted son wannabe politician and influencer Cy (Daryl McCormack), sci-fi author Lee (Andrew Scott), retired cello player Simone (Cailee Spaeny). One Good Friday, a murder was committed in a small enclosed room beside the altar.
As with the first two Agatha Christie-inspired "Knives Out" murder mysteries whipped up by writer-director Rian Johnson, every character had a motive to kill the victim. This is a job for the ever- flamboyant private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who had been invited to assist by local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis). Aside from Christie, Johnson outright cited "The Hollow Man" by John Dickson Carr for his mechanics of a perfect murder.
Johnson had really woven in a lot of intricate twists and turns into this case to involve even a beloved former pastor, a destructive "harlot whore" and a mysterious heirloom. Johnson also made his crimes so complex such that no one in his audience can likely get every little detail correctly. The whodunnit part may be guessed at, but how everything fell into place, especially the part about an apparent "miracle," can still surprise the most jaded couch detectives.
What an impressive cast Johnson has gathered together! Craig's Blanc was as over-the-top as ever and was fun to watch his histrionics. Glenn Close, of course, won't be ignored, and she stole the scene whenever she's on. Josh O'Connor was riveting as the sincere but conflicted Rev. Jud, torn between his violent past and his present vocation, between wanting to solve the case and wanting to serve his flock. O'Connor's had this quiet scene of epiphany with a distraught woman on the phone (Bridget Everett) which was just so good.
Rev. Jud had some very well-written lines about his concept of Catholic priesthood. On the other hand, Catholicism also took some blows here, with distorted beliefs in scandalously confrontational homilies, or the destructive desecration of the church tabernacle and icons, including the taking down and shattering of the main crucifix. There was also a disturbingly irreverent depiction of the Sacrament of Reconciliation where the icky contents of a priest's confession will make you regret you watched this with your parents. 7/10
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